Bush's visit to Ottawa - the menu, the demonstrations

For those interested, two articles on Bush's visit to Ottawa, Canada:

It's nearly impossible to find a cohesive theme that will pull together the many threads of Tuesday's packed agenda when Prime Minister Paul Martin greets George W. Bush on the U.S. president's first official visit to Ottawa.

Trade irritants, streamlining border security, such global hotspots as the Middle East and even Great Lakes water issues are all crammed into a busy agenda that's expected to consume more than three hours of talks between the two leaders.

Sandwiches and iced tea will be elbowed aside in favour of documents during a working lunch involving the two leaders and key cabinet ministers such as deputy prime minister Anne McLellan and Condaleeza Rice, the U.S. national security advisor.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Second article... the demonstrators prepare

Joe Cressy, an organizer and media spokesman for a group called �No to Bush Committee,� said there will be two events in Ottawa to greet Mr. Bush to Canada.

At noon, there will be a demonstration at Confederation Park outside of City Hall.

�It will be a large, diverse, peaceful and powerful protest,� Mr. Cressy told globeandmail.com.

There will be a number of speakers at the protest, representing several groups, including groups representing women and gay rights, peace activists such as Lawyers Against War, First Nations groups, Muslim groups and the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Too bad I won't be able to go, I have some engagements on that day.

By the way, five police departments are involved in this visit: the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), the Suret� du Qu�bec, the Ottawa Police, the Gatineau Police and some police officers from Toronto.

Guess who'll be footing the bill...

Interesting how to see our lovable president being welcome into the harts of other countries.

I wonder how many military troops in Canada will be on "alert" for such a wonderful event.

It is said that 14 thousand troops were on duty for Mr. Bush visit to south America.

Such and important person needs all the safety we can gather.

I wouldn't know, but my gut tells me that Bush gets some sort of sick thrill over all the opposition and hoopla. Maybe it makes him feel important. Maybe it gets his machismo all stirred up. Maybe having unpopular viepoints make him feel special. Then again, maybe he just doesn't care.

All I know is, a lot of the world truly hates him for the things he's done in the last 4 years, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bullet out there somewhere with his name on it. He had better hope his security is impenetrable and tight as a drum. If he continues to alienate the rest of the world, someone may decide to use that bullet.

I know that sounds bad, but I can't help thinking it ...

Well, Reagan was disliked in Canada too (he was booed when he addressed Parliament) but he wasn't assassinated. From what I've seen, other than Abe Lincoln, those who are assassinated are those who threaten the establishment's status quo. Which Bush isn't doing.

Has there ever been an American president as universally despised as Bush? I cant remember one, and I was born in 1972 It should say something about the man, I mean, either 90% of the world has its story wrong, or Bush has really just been a terrible president

Otts- As Canadians lets be realistic and self serving. Bush is prez for 4 more years. He can't run for a third term so international protest is meaningless. Lets deal with it.

Whatever one thinks of Bush's intellectual capacity he is clearly aware of the enmity he engenders in the rest of the world. Lets let America deal with her own internal divisions, lets let France and the EU play the contrarian, and lets us stfu and benefit from our prudent silence.

For good or for bad, they are our kin. We don't need to kiss their a$$ but we don't need to smack it either. If we want them to listen then we better start telling them what we like about them and thanking them for it too.

Bush gets the message. There are Canadians who don't like him. Now lets take that energy that you would use for protest and put it to a more practical use. Lets get back to business. Lets mend fences. Lets not forget that despite periodic dysfunctions in the relationship Canadians and Americans love and need each other.

The Canadian people dont have a problem with us Americans. They have a problem the American president, and personally, I dont blame them.

Well, a lot of Canadians really liked Ford, Carter and Clinton... so no, we don't hate Americans. We find you guys occasionally bewildering, but we don't hate you.

And Deevee - I'm all for doing something productive. At some point you have to act in the real world. But I won't pretend I approve of Bush or his policies either.

Originally posted by marg6043
...I wonder how many military troops in Canada will be on "alert" for such a wonderful event.

It is said that 14 thousand troops were on duty for Mr. Bush visit to south America.

There won't be any military troops on duty... on higher alert perhaps but no deployment.

As Otts pointed out there are five police organizations involved as well as CSIS and the USSS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and United States Secret Service) I'm sure that will be plenty for Canada.

The protests on Parliament Hill and in Halifax will likely be tame compared to what happened in Chile.

I hope the crowd that shows up is not just there to bash Bush put demand a resolution to the issues.

Softwood Lumber, Beef, Wheat, Steel, and Missile Defense Shield are just some of the issues the Bush Administration needs to deal with if they want to garner Canadian respect.

Bush turned down an offer to address Parliament� because our MP�s not to mention the Public Galleries couldn�t be trusted to not heckle?!

This guy sure is insulated from any visible opposition� I think W stands for Wally World! The Emperor must not be disturbed.

Too bad I can�t make it to Ottawa. It�s always cool to hang out on the Hill in a crowd. They should give Bush a tour of the Parliament Building and make sure he can see the Eternal Flame and the Great Lawn filled with people outside.

As for the meeting, being in a minority government doesn�t exactly give Martin much leverage. I wonder what Bush expects from this little �visit�.

I�d love to be a fly on the wall in that room!

Oh. I wonder how many people in the United States know why Bush is going to Halifax?

.

Originally posted by Gools
I hope the crowd that shows up is not just there to bash Bush put demand a resolution to the issues.

Softwood Lumber, Beef, Wheat, Steel, and Missile Defense Shield are just some of the issues the Bush Administration needs to deal with if they want to garner Canadian respect.

From what I've heard, the demonstrations (ranging Monday-Wednesday) will have varied focuses; not just protesting the War in Iraq, etc., but also focusing on US-America relations such as the missile defense shield, and reopening the border to our beef exports.

Oh. I wonder how many people in the United States know why Bush is going to Halifax?

It only took 3 years to get around to saying thanks, not bad.

Agreed, otts. If the willingness to protest is there, regardless of it having no effect, then it must be exercised. If one feels the need to voice their opinion, then it is their duty as a free citizen to do so. Restraint of such action in order to appease another country is not only not in their best interests, but it goes against what freedom stands for.

I personally don't like bush, neither does most of the world. Does this make him a bad US president? Perhaps not. He is playing alot of power politics, which usually does a country good. Does this make him a bad person? Perhaps not. He may be a loving father who cares for people. However, is he bad for the world? If the rest of the world thinks so, then the likely answer is yes.

So... even though he may not be a bad president or a bad person, he is surely bad for the world. That, in my opinion, trumps the rest. Whats good for the world is good for the US due to our immesurable assets abroad.

I would much rather have a cold calculating jerk who makes the world a better place, not just the US. As the only real superpower at the moment, I feel it is the US' duty to do so.

[edit on 28-11-2004 by Galvatron]

professional protester itinerary...

12:00 - "No to Bush protest" at Confed. Park

4:20 - Marijuana "Smoke In" to protest Bush on Parliament Hill

can it get any more embarrassing on a world level.....?

"Proud to be a Canadian
pass me another....beer"

This is the actual information I have on the protest planned.

www.cbc.ca...

According to CBC, the protest to greet Bush in Ottawa wasn't that big anyway... 200 demonstrators.

Rayzor, what you describe as a "smoke-in" is actually a candle light vigil.

I love it how some people feel that citizens exercising their right to protest is "embarrassing".

I am glad that Bush has finally taken the time to pay us a visit. IT is long overdue, especially in Atlantic Canada where the hospitality they showed during 9/11 was unparalleled. It really is disgraceful that he hasn't paid respects to them until now.

His visit is wreaking havoc on downtown Ottawa today with several businesses closed including several government departments including the Mint.

I find it interesting that Bush is willing to sit down to dinner this evening at the Museum of Civilization (should they even let him in the door...LOL) and he will be eating Alberta beef which apparently isn't suitable for American consumption.

All in all this visit will cost the Canadian taxpayers an estimated $3,000,00.00 Exactly how do we benefit from this visit again? We'll see, perhaps they can resolve the softwood lumber and beef problems, but I am far less optimistic.

Peace,
Lukefj

Luke - I was supposed to have an English-as-a-second-language proficiency exam today, for a job in public service... but because of the visit, the exam is postponed... which actually I don't mind. I don't really want the job, I have another possibly lined up that I prefer, and because of the delay, it may pan out before the job I don't really want.

Thank you Mr. Bush!

Hi my peeps hehehehe

Hey, I'm off work today, I can watch the canadian news "radio-canada" and they show all canadians from all provinces in front of the parliament protesting against BUSH, there all also American from far away states who are there in Ottawa...
They say Bush is totally immoral person....
They don't want Paul Martin to agree with Bush on the anti-missile bouclier, the war in Irak..but they want the states to agree on wood exportation and Beef exportation....
People are very pacifist, there is no violence among the protestators
Do you think it's worth it??? I mean, Martin knows that we canadian don't want anything to do with war or missiles

Ameliaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Out here in Tunney's it's business as usual..damnit! I will be heading to the Rideau centre after work to go to the gym...hopefully traffic won't be too bad. It would suck to have to travel across the bridge to Quebec this evening I would imagine though.

Good luck with your job prospect!

PS> Do you know if Georgie brought anyone to cut up and chew his beef for him? After all, this is a president who has a tough time with a pretzel....I don't want us getting framed for assassination. LOL

Now that would be a conspiracy...I can read the American headlines now..."Alberta Beef...It kills."

Peace,
Lukefj

Originally posted by Otts

Rayzor, what you describe as a "smoke-in" is actually a candle light vigil.

I love it how some people feel that citizens exercising their right to protest is "embarrassing".

"We will be holding a mass smoke-in during Bush's visit," said Marc Emery, President of the BC Marijuana Party. "I want to get busloads of people from across Canada to converge upon Parliament Hill. I will be speaking from 3:30 to 4:20pm on both days, and we will smoke out the hill. We want to show that Canadians love marijuana, and that we will no longer stand for the American war against our people, our plant and our culture."

sorry - but that IS embarrassing IMO

Luke - I wouldn't try either Alexandra or Portage bridges if you want to cross to Qu�bec. It might prove, um... problematic.

Well, I'm sure that the ox that gave the beef was tested and retested... maybe it was even grown in-vitro in a laboratory

quote: Originally posted by Otts

Rayzor, what you describe as a "smoke-in" is actually a candle light vigil.

I love it how some people feel that citizens exercising their right to protest is "embarrassing".

quote: "We will be holding a mass smoke-in during Bush's visit," said Marc Emery, President of the BC Marijuana Party. "I want to get busloads of people from across Canada to converge upon Parliament Hill. I will be speaking from 3:30 to 4:20pm on both days, and we will smoke out the hill. We want to show that Canadians love marijuana, and that we will no longer stand for the American war against our people, our plant and our culture."

sorry - but that IS embarrassing IMO

The real embarrassment is the law keeping it illegal